Timeline of Earth-4 (1960s to 1970s)

1960

January, 1960

Capt. Nathaniel Christopher Adam (who sometimes uses the aliases Allen Adam or John Adam) rematerializes after being exploded in space. He creates a costume made of radiation-blocking diulustel and becomes the super-powered Captain Atom, America's top secret weapon. The only ones at this time who know of his existence and his secret identity are Gen. Clinton Eining, Jeffery “Gunner” Goslin, and President Dwight Eisenhower. [Space Adventures #33]

An oil company employee in the Middle East named Phil Winship discovers a time-travel device shaped as a helmet, which he uses to travel back 20,000 years. In this past era he discovers an unnamed civilization that possesses aircraft and advanced science. When the helmet is destroyed, he is likewise stranded in that time, and he soon adapts to the civilization and forgets his original time of 1960. [“The Time Cap,” Unusual Tales #20]

April, 1960

Konga, a small chimpanzee taken from Africa, is turned into a giant, 25-foot-tall gorilla by daily injections of chemicals derived from carnivorous plants. He goes on a rampage in London before being killed and reverting to his small chimpanzee size. [Konga (1960 American International film); Konga #1]

Captain Atom saves the life of Igor Kriss (born Igor Stefanovich Kriskovsky), a Russian cosmonaut in orbit who is supposedly the first man in space. Because Kriss, an honest man, admits that an American was in space before him, the Soviet Union suppresses all knowledge of Kriss' existence and locks him up in a Siberian gulag. Note: Igor Kriss later gains similar super-powers and becomes Redstar, super-agent of the Soviet Union. [Space Adventures #34]

May, 1960

A 37-year-old man named George Clinton spontaneously becomes a human powerhouse, building up large amounts of electricity in his body that he can discharge at will. He retains this ability just long enough to discharge a powerful bolt of electricity into the sky, then returns to normal. Little does he know that this discharge of electricity utterly destroys a group of spaceborne monsters in the upper atmosphere that would have infected the Earth with new and terrible diseases from another galaxy. [“The Human Powerhouse,” Strange Suspense Stories (Charlton) #48]

June, 1960

Captain Atom helps his friend Jeff “Gunner” Goslin's son, Billy Goslin, who has the ability to project a solid version of himself into deep space while he dreams. [Space Adventures #35]

July, 1960

The Mysterious Traveler's last recorded appearance in the 1960s. [Strange Suspense Stories (Charlton) #49]

October, 1960

Captain Atom encounters the extraterrestrials known as the Space Prowlers and stops their planned invasion of Earth. [Space Adventures #37]

Captain Atom first encounters the Silver Ladies of Venus, an extraterrestrial species of superhuman women who are telepathic and can exist in the vacuum of space near Venus. Note: They are not native to Venus and have only settled there at some point in the past, using technology to survive. Although it is not explained here, the Silver Ladies can only exist in the vacuum of space through the use of transparent, body-fitting space suits. [Space Adventures #37]

November, 1960

December, 1960

Phantom Lady, now 40 years old, goes into costume a single time to stop armed criminals but is trapped by them. The mystical being known as Azagoth approaches her, saving her, and begins teaching her over the next decade to become a powerful sorceress. She ceases to age and becomes a young woman again. Note: The Azagoth of Earth-4 is a creature from the Land of the Nightshades, also called the Nightshade Realm, and Phantom Lady gains her mystical power from that dimension. [speculation based on Bill Black's Fun Comics #4 and Suicide Squad #14-16]

During the final months of President Dwight Eisenhower's administration, an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth occurs, and approximately a thousand people die in an attack on an unnamed major U.S. city. President Eisenhower declares a national state of emergency. Captain Atom stops the extraterrestrials, appearing in the public for the first time during this case, although his existence officially remains top secret and is guarded for several years more. [Space Adventures #39]

Salvagers Joe Ryan and Sam Slade capture Gorgo, an amphibious baby dinosaur, off the coast of Ireland and become famous. They sell him to Dorkin's London Circus. Gorgo's 200-foot-tall mother, Ogra, follows Gorgo's trail, attacking a port in Ireland and then heading to London, England, where she rescues Gorgo in Battersea Park, causing much destruction along the way, and they head back home to their habitat 30,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. Note: Gorgo's and Ogra's attack on London took place during the extraterrestrial invasion in the U.S., since Captain Atom was too busy to stop both attacks. [Gorgo (1960 King Brothers film); Gorgo #1]

A dinosaur-like monster called Reptilicus is grown from a discarded limb found frozen in Lapland in the Arctic Circle. Reptilicus attacks Copenhagen, Denmark. Note: Reptilicus' attack on Copenhagen took place during the extraterrestrial invasion in the U.S., since Captain Atom was too busy to stop both attacks. [Reptilicus (1961 American International film); Reptilicus #1]

1961

January, 1961

After a final case for President Eisenhower, Captain Atom is introduced to President John F. Kennedy, who was informed of his existence sometime after winning the Presidential election.

June, 1961

Bob and Sandra Kenton create Konga II when they turn another chimpanzee into a 25-foot-tall monster. [Konga #2]

After Ogra and Gorgo's attack on London, the British Navy has installed huge generators capable of charging the Irish Sea, the English Channel, and all adjacent waters with 10,000,000,000 volts of electricity. A test of the generators causes Ogra and Gorgo to flee west toward North America, causing havoc with the transatlantic telephone cable. Adventurer Merril Hyde is sent to fix the problem, and he frees Gorgo from being entangled in the cable, but Gorgo follows his ship back to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The U.S. Air Force attacked Gorgo, angering him and causing him to attack the coast on Long Island. New York City begins evacuations. Soldiers under the direction of Merril Hyde trap Gorgo in a huge sand pit, but he cries out for his mother Ogra, who attacks Long Island and Idlewild Airport (now known as John F. Kennedy International Airport). Ogra heads through Queens, where the U.S. military drops a small hydrogen bomb onto her, but it proves ineffectual (presumably Captain Atom was secretly present to absorb the radiation from the blast but instructed not to directly battle the creature). Ogra tears through Manhattan, causing damage to the United Nations Building, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, and a bridge, before Merril Hyde sets Gorgo free to lure Ogra back to Long Island. There, the U.S. Army fires shells full of tranquilizing drugs at both Ogra and Gorgo, causing them to become drowsy and flee back into the ocean. Ogra and Gorgo are merely stunned, although they are believed to die from the drugs. [Gorgo #2]

August, 1961

In Captain Atom's last case in the early part of his career, he encounters the Silver Lady from Venus (who is part of the same extraterrestrial race he encountered in October, 1960). He informs President Kennedy that he left her in the Soviet Union. Note: After this case, President Kennedy sends Captain Atom on a series of top secret missions in deep space, and he has no further known cases on Earth until 1965, except a few instances of secretly absorbing nuclear radiation near populated areas. [Space Adventures #42]

Mandel Astro, dictator of the Latin American nation of Bota, sends Dr. Valzo to find Ogra and Gorgo to control them and make them national super-weapons. Valzo captures Gorgo, subduing him with electricity, and trains the monster for a few weeks to obey his orders. Then Astro sends Gorgo to conquer the neighboring nation and overthrows its dictator. Then Valzo uses Gorgo to overthrow Astro. Valzo then sends Gorgo to attack another neighboring nation, but Gorgo finally resists and pursues Valzo to the sea, where he spares him and goes back to Ogra, his mother. [Gorgo #3]

September, 1961

Gorgo playfully grabs a nuclear depth bomb being tested by the U.S. Navy. He and his mother are caught in the underwater blast but are relatively unharmed. Meanwhile, a U.S. astronaut named Maj. Charles X. Dunne orbits the earth and re-enters the atmosphere, only to be retrieved by Gorgo. The U.S. military sets out to rescue Maj. Dunne, but Gorgo and his mother Ogra leave him unharmed. After some days, Maj. Dunne gains Gorgo's trust and is able to travel all the way to New York City while riding on the monster's head. For the first time, Gorgo is viewed as a potential ally rather than merely a dangerous threat. [Gorgo #4]

October, 1961

On a South Seas tropical island, Konga II battles a group of Nazis who plan to use atomic power to conquer the world. He inadvertently causes the death of Adolf Hitler or a man who is Hitler's double. [Konga #4]

November, 1961

After his hide turns from green to red, Reptilicus is renamed Reptisaurus. [Reptisaurus #3]

Professor Henry Stoddard and his assistants, Jason and Maria, track down Ogra and Gorgo in tropical waters. Following them, the U.S. military attacks the monsters, who travel northward underwater and soon reach New York City, causing destruction in their path. After the U.S. military uses nuclear depth bombs in the sea outside New York Harbor, an ancient sea creature trapped for millions of years is set free and attacks New York City in search of food. Ogra attacks and kills the creature to protect her baby, Gorgo, and they flee back into the ocean. [Gorgo #5]

1962

January, 1962

After months of work, Bob and Sandra Kenton are able to use a shrinking serum of his own invention to reverse Konga II's growth, turning him back into the small size of a chimpanzee, but it soon wears off. [Konga #5]

February, 1962

U.S. General Canfield hires Professor Stoddard to track down Ogra and Gorgo once again to destroy them once and for all. Meanwhile, in a lost city of Atlantis populated by mutated yellow reptilian humanoids who communicate through telepathy, they planned to attack the surface world. But while sending their army toward the surface, they attacked Ogra and Gorgo, who attacked them and destroyed this Atlantis and killed all its inhabitants, also unwittingly ending the threat to the surface world. Stoddard, tracking the monsters down with a submarine, witnessed the destroyed Atlantis and, realizing Ogra and Gorgo had saved the surface world, reported that they had seen nothing to the military. [Gorgo #6]

April, 1962

The USSR begins testing new hydrogen bomb rockets underwater in the Arctic Ocean, disturbing Ogra and Gorgo. Under cover of a hurricane, USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev sends a huge fleet of unmanned, robotically controlled atomic submarines (controlled by a manned mother submarine) with hydrogen rockets to conquer the world's major cities and ultimately create a worldwide Soviet Empire. Australian pilot Clyde “Chips” Ainsley spots the Soviet submarine fleet and is shot down, but he is rescued when he lands on Gorgo's head as Gorgo and Ogra swim away from the area. The monsters destroy the entire fleet of robotic submarines and the hidden base from which they were launched, unwittingly saving the free world from invasion. Despite his witnessing both the Soviet submarine fleet and the monsters, Ainsley – widely known for telling tall tales – is not believed when no evidence of the hidden base can be found. [Gorgo #7]

May, 1962

Still imprisoned, Clyde “Chips” Ainsley tells his friends Hal (an aspiring filmmaker) and Jan Dorsett about his experiences with Gorgo. The Dorsetts then head into the Arctic Ocean in search of the true Sargasso Sea containing the graveyard of lost ships, a tropical oasis in the frozen Arctic where they encounter Gorgo and Ogra. Dorsett's film of the two monsters is used as evidence to support the story of Ainsley, who is freed. Meanwhile, Gorgo and Ogra attempt to leave the Arctic but become trapped in the freezing waters and are put into forced suspended animation for three months. [Gorgo #8, 9]

July, 1962

Konga II discovers a tropical land full of dinosaurs beneath the ice-crust in Antarctica. Finding that the dinosaur inhabitants were unfriendly and all wanted to fight him, he leaves and heads north for a tropical island. [Konga #8]

August, 1962

In the Arctic Ocean, Generalissimo Chang plans to test Red China's nuclear bombs and instead awakens Gorgo and Ogra from their frozen suspended animation. Investigating, USAF pilot Lt. Keith Maynard's plane is struck down by Ogra, and he is forced to jettison. Lt. Maynard is captured by the Red Chinese agents, but he escapes after Gorgo attacks their base and warns the U.S. military about Generalissimo Chang's plan to conquer the world. The Red Chinese attack Gorgo and Ogra with a more powerful nuclear bomb, which doesn't harm the monsters but destroys the Chinese base. [Gorgo #9]

September, 1962

Wandering into Siberia, Konga II frees an exiled Czech performer named Stanlut Leon Kazhov, who directs Konga II west to destroy Soviet installations. Konga II destroys a Soviet missile base with a new series of nuclear weapons, then leaves the USSR with Kazhov, heading for a tropical island. [Konga #9]

Spotted in the fishing waters off the Chinese coast, Gorgo is mistaken as the Dragon of China, whom the enemies of Communism in China rally behind as a symbol of freedom. Pre-Communist leader Li T'ze takes the opportunity to rise against the Communist government before leading half a million people to freedom in Taiwan. Ogra and Gorgo go on a rampage in Red China, causing much damage to the nation's infrastructure and setting its nuclear program back several years. [Gorgo's Revenge #1]

October, 1962

The USSR secretly sends nuclear missiles and germ weapons via cargo ship to Fidel Castro in Cuba. President Kennedy learns of this illegal cargo, causing the Cuban Missile Crisis to occur. Gorgo, passing by and seeing the ships, is curious and investigates in Cuba, only to be attacked by Fidel Castro's army and Soviet weaponry. Ogra, following Gorgo, attacks and destroys most of the Cuban and Soviet military forces there, eliminating much of the threat to the U.S. [Gorgo #14]

November, 1962

Sue Smith and Sally Smith, two nurses with special training, volunteer for hazardous missions of mercy with the Emergency Corps rescue team. [Sue and Sally Smith, Flying Nurses #48]

Ogra and Gorgo are in the South Pacific near the coast of Sydney, Australia, when giant extraterrestrial creatures (having brown fur, a horn, and a single eye) currently living on Venus reach the Earth in their gigantic spacecraft. The Venusians attack Melbourne, which evacuates, and the military drops an atomic bomb on the spacecraft, which is unaffected. Gorgo, investigating, attacks the Venusians but is shot by an energy cannon that temporarily knocks him out. Gorgo recovers and battles the Venusians again, and Ogra joins in after tracking him down, nearly destroying Melbourne in the process. The monsters damage the spacecraft, but the Venusians are able to escape. The military, grateful for the monsters' actions in stopping the invasion, leave Ogra and Gorgo alone to return to their dwelling place. [Gorgo #10]

During the Venusian invasion, a smaller race of octopus-like Venusians secretly lands a spacecraft on Earth to build a scientific study city on an isolated tropical island. Gorgo spots them when they land. The Venusians release the Gifted Ones, shapeshifters under Venusian control that can impersonate humans, and the Gifted Ones begin capturing and impersonating all the top scientists of the world. Tracking down the missing scientists to the octopus-like Venusians' scientific study city on a tropical island, the U.S. military attacks but is rebuffed by Venusian spacecraft. But Reptisaurus appears and attacks and destroys several of the octopus-like Venusians' spacecraft, and then Ogra and Gorgo destroy the dome protecting the city, allowing the military to rescue the kidnapped scientists and destroy the city. Fearing the giant monsters that seem to be at the humans' beck and call, the Venusians flee Earth, never to return. Reptisaurus, Ogra, and Gorgo each return to their dwelling places. [Gorgo #12]

December, 1962

Dr. Tom Brent begins adventures as a young intern at a hospital. [Doctor Tom Brent, Young Intern #1]

Alex Berlitz, Hollywood director, captures footage of Gorgo on film in the South Pacific and films a movie. [Gorgo #11]

1963

Steve Austin finishes college and joins the U.S. Army, flying helicopters in Vietnam for several months. [The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

March, 1963

The Warlord first becomes known to THUNDER after he attempts to steal the latest atomic engine. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1]

April, 1963

Gorgo's Triumph, the movie filmed by Alex Berlitz, is first released in theaters, immediately becoming a blockbuster hit. Famed zoologist Prof. Carl Carlson, seeing the film, plans to capture Gorgo for the Bronx Zoo with the help of his assistant Jan Blake and veterinarian Dr. Henry Reston. Meanwhile, hearing of the Americans' plans for Gorgo's capture, USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev wants to capture Gorgo for the Moscow Zoo. The Soviets send a spy under the name of Dr. Mark Barlow to accompany Carlson's expedition to capture Gorgo. Sailing to the same island where Berlitz filmed Gorgo, the expedition subdues and captures Gorgo using a powerful anesthetic. The Soviet spy calling himself Barlow then reveals that he and the ship's crew are all Soviets. Reston subdues Barlow, while U.S. Navy frogmen aboard the ship subdue the Soviet crew. Several weeks later, the expedition brings Gorgo back to the U.S. and puts him on display at the Bronx Zoo. There, Gorgo snapped the chains that held him, and they let him go because Ogra was spotted entering New York Harbor. The two monsters leave New York City peacefully. [Gorgo #13]

May, 1963

Reptisaurus' last appearance. [Reptisaurus Special Edition #1]

A 15-foot, frog-like extraterrestrial named Koorii from the planet Corpus III witnesses as Ogra and Gorgo are caught in a nuclear test on an island controlled by Red China. Ogra and Gorgo attack military installations on China's coast before returning to the sea. Koorii had planned to use Gorgo and Ogra to kill all human life on Earth to make it habitable for his own race, but Gorgo kills him to save the life of a human. [The Return of Gorgo #2]

Rex King, heir to the throne of the kingdom of Baronkhan, is born to Princess Lisandra. Some time later, Rex King is orphaned and adopted by the Phantom XXI, who is unaware of his true identity. Note: This date is speculative and is based on events shown in the Phantom comic strip. After the Phantom XXI's death, the Phantom XXII takes over as Rex's guardian.

June, 1963

July, 1963

Dan Garret, the original Blue Beetle, returns from a coma-like state and operates under the name of the Human Fly, having a brief career before disappearing once more. Note: A Blue Beetle story in Americomics #3 reveals that the eternally young Dan Garret had a brief career in the 1960s. We posit that Garret uses the name Human Fly based on the reprint issues published by IW Publishing/Super Comics, the second of which was published in 1963. After this story, Dan Garret falls back into another coma-like state and does not return until 1973, when he meets Ted Kord. [Human Fly (IW) #1, 10]

August, 1963

Dr. Tom Brent's last case. [Doctor Tom Brent, Young Intern #5]

Dr. Carl Engstrom, now a university professor, returns to the Land That Time Forgot in the heart of Africa and discovers that his daughter Gloria has grown up to become the White Goddess of the prehistoric ape-men there. Meanwhile, Gorgo traveled deep inland into Africa to reach the Land That Time Forgot, followed by his mother Ogra. The two monsters battle the dinosaurs there, inadvertently saving Engstrom and Gloria from being sacrificed by the ape-men to a tyrannosaurus rex. Engstrom believes the monsters have destroyed all the dinosaurs there before fleeing back into the ocean. [Gorgo #15]

September, 1963

Archeologists Prof. Cyrus Coffin and his brother Elias Coffin discover an ancient Greek scroll describing the legend of Athena and Arachne, in which a young woman named Arachne challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest but was turned into a spider by the goddess. A rival archeologist named Hal Carter forces the Coffin brothers to share credit for the discovery with him, but Elias plans revenge when he has his young daughter, also named Arachne, weave a scarf according to the ancient instructions. Then he planned to have Arachne send the scarf to Carter so that the still-living ancient spider Arachne would destroy him. Unfortunately, his daughter Arachne wanted her father to have the scarf she knitted because it was much nicer and sent Carter an old scarf. The ancient spider Arachne killed Elias, and Cyrus raised his niece from then on. Note: This story takes place almost ten years before October, 1972, probably placing it in 1963. Hal Carter's first name was not explained, but since he is a dark-haired archeologist like Earth-1's Carter Hall (Hawkman), the name Hal Carter seems to fit. [Midnight Tales #1]

October, 1963

U.S. Senator Sam Brockton has founded a new political party whose main purpose is to destroy Ogra and Gorgo and other monsters, who he sees as the main threat to civilization. Meanwhile, scientists test an atomic bomb in the South Seas, creating the Chloryllfids, walking mutant, man-eating plants that threaten to destroy mankind. Ogra and Gorgo, finding no food in the ocean because of the radiation, eat and destroy the Chloryllfids, inadvertently ending their threat to the world. [Gorgo #16]

Police Chief David Crowell of an unnamed U.S. city stops a threat by an alien who pirate broadcasts over unused television channels all across the country, showing its power and demanding the world's surrender. After the alien is killed in an explosion that also destroys its pirate television station, the public eventually believes it to all have been a publicity stunt. [“The Too Late, Late Show,” Strange Suspense Stories (Charlton) #68]

Five men are recruited by the CIA for a special mission to rescue Dr. Ernst Von Essen, a naturalized American scientist originally from Germany, from his communist captors in East Germany. They become the Fightin' Five (Capt. Hank Hennessy, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier from a wealthy Manhattan family; Irv "the Nerve" Haganah, an Israeli private investigator; Antonio "Granite" Gallero, an Italian weapons expert; Frenchy the Fox, a French deep-sea diver; Tom-Tom, an American wrestler). After this first case, the Fightin' Five remain together as a team of specialists who fight would-be world conquerors. They are equipped with modern weapons as well as jet-belts capable of flying for short distances. The team has a headquarters in the Southwestern United States. Note: The Fightin' Five's origin is specifically placed in the fall of 1963. [The Fightin' 5 #28]

December, 1963

Cynthia Doyle's last case. [Cynthia Doyle, Nurse in Love #74]

Gorgo destroys two Soviet missile bases in the Caribbean Sea secretly set up to aid Cuba against the U.S. [Gorgo #17]

1964

Steve Austin transfers from the U.S. Army into the U.S. Air Force and becomes a test pilot. He is also briefly married to a woman named Karen, who becomes pregnant with their son but does not tell Austin. [The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

January, 1964

Lee Barry's last case. [Three Nurses #23]

Anne Allen's last case. [Three Nurses #23]

Nancy White's last case. [Three Nurses #23]

Nurse Betsy Crane's last case. [Nurse Betsy Crane #27]

April, 1964

While on a sabbatical in Egypt from his archeology professor position at Hub City's Second City University, Dr. Daniel Northrup Garrett gains super-powers from a mystic blue scarab to become Blue Beetle II. In his first case, he battles the giant mummy of the evil pharaoh, Kha-ef-re. Dr. Garrett is aided by noted female Egyptian archaelogist, Prof. Luri Hoshid, who knows his secret identity. Note: Dan Garrett (spelled with two Ts) is a grown up Sparkington J. Northrup, the original Blue Beetle's sidekick known by his nicknames Sparky and Spunky, who had his name legally changed to honor his mentor. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v2 #1]

May, 1964

Gorgo battles Dr. Zhunli, a criminal scientist and amateur sorcerer who finds a way to grow to a giant size. [Gorgo #19]

August, 1964

Gorgo saves the U.S. nuclear submarine the U.S.S. Ripper and its crew, thanks to a trained dolphin named Clyde that can somehow communicate with the monster. [Return of Gorgo #3]

September, 1964

Blue Beetle II battles Mr. Thunderbolt, an alien from the planet Uxer disguised as a human who has the power to command lightning. Blue Beetle II saves Tokyo, Japan, from being destroyed by Mr. Thunderbolt and then travels into deep space to toss Mr. Thunderbolt back to his own planet. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v2 #3]

October, 1964

Sarge Steel, private detective, returns from a tour of duty as a soldier in Vietnam and begins adventures. [Sarge Steel #1]

October 10: Charles David Grant, the future Mr. Jigsaw, is born a mutant with control over his molecular structure, enabling him to detach and remotely control parts of his body.

A hundred miles off the Carolina coast in the North Atlantic Ocean, Gorgo discovers a secret Soviet city underwater that is stockpiled with nuclear weapons. He is attacked and causes much destruction of the city in return, grabbing a nuclear missile before washing up on the Carolina shore. The U.S. military, investigating, realizes that there must be an underwater Soviet base nearby. A U.S. Navy submarine finds the Soviet city and warns that they must give up their missiles. A nuclear confrontation with the capability to cause World War III seems imminent, when an angry Gorgo (earlier stung by nuclear blasts) steals all the nuclear missiles and stashes them away in a secret location. The crisis is averted, and the Soviet city is allowed to exist solely as an aquatic farm. [Gorgo #21]

Mercury Man, a benign, super-powered alien from Mercury who was transformed into mercury, comes to Earth and prevents a nuclear war from breaking out when the new Soviet leader fires nuclear missiles at the USA. With the assistance of Dr. Erika Penn, a scientist, Mercury Man is able to assume a human identity, though he retains the ability to become mercury once more. Note: This story is set in the mid-1960s, possibly placing it in October, 1964, after Nikita Khrushchev was ousted as the premier, but before Leonid Brezhnev became the new leader. This story very likely takes place at the same time as the events of Gorgo #21. [“Introducing the Mercury Man,” Space Adventures #44 (February, 1962)]

November, 1964

December, 1964

According to this story, it is the policy of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Gorgo and Ogra (who makes no more appearances) have done more for the free world and all of mankind than he has against man and is not to be considered hostile. Under the direction of Gen. Thung, Red China has begun a massive military build-up in preparation for a planned invasion of all of Asia. Gorgo wanders into Red China and is attacked by the military with nuclear force. Gorgo humiliates Thung, ending his dreams of conquest. [Gorgo #22]

1965

Steve Austin joins the U.S. space program as one of six civilians in the astronaut training program, although Austin had worked for a year as a U.S. Air Force test pilot before joining NASA. Sometime during this year, Austin's ex-wife Karen gives birth to their son, Michael Austin. Steve Austin does not learn of his existence for a few years. Note: It is possible that Caroline Dean, who later became the first Liberty Belle and founded Femme Force One, was also one of those six civilian astronauts. [The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

January, 1965

Blue Beetle II battles the Red Knight, who is in reality his lifelong friend, NASA physicist Dr. Lewis Coll, inventor of a rocketship that he used to travel to the planet Saturn, where he becomes mad after exposure to a mysterious metallic glass with special properties that he finds there. The hero uses a special powder to break Coll's madness, restoring him to normal. During this case, Blue Beetle II briefly travels to Saturn under his own power. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v2 #5]

Mercury Man's last appearance. Note: This story takes place chronologically later than published, since Mercury Man's first appearance takes place in 1964 rather than when it was published in 1961. [Space Adventures #45]

February, 1965

Prof. Wallace Jennings is murdered by agents of the Warlord, who steal several of his inventions, leaving behind some equipment and a few prototypes of super-weapons that would enable the user to have super-powers. THUNDER begins a search for the right candidates for three of those prototypes. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1]

March, 1965

John Mann, a newspaper reporter and Korean War veteran with an artificial leg, hurls a challenge at the gods of Mount Olympus and is endowed with their might to become the super-powered action hero, the Son of Vulcan. [Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #46]

On the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprete, Son of Vulcan first battles his recurring criminal foe, Dr. Kong, and his robotic henchman, the Giant Gladiator. [Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #46]

While wandering through a small town, David Crandall (whose memories briefly return when Son of Vulcan is created) becomes Nature Man for a single case, saving a small town from flooding after a dam bursts. Note: This story, appearing in 1956, apparently takes place after Nature Boy grew up. After this case, David Crandall loses his memories again and forgets his powers until 1985, but he sporadically has short periods of time when he regains his memories and occasionally acts as the wandering hero Nature Man. [Nature Boy #3]

April, 1965

Soviet spy chief Comrade Zastrow (Anatoly Prokosha Zastrow) offers former Soviet cosmonaut Igor Kriss (imprisoned in a Siberian gulag since 1960) the opportunity to participate in an experiment meant to recreate in him the nuclear super-powered abilities of Captain Atom. Kriss accepts and begins six months of testing in anticipation of the final experiment. [“Redstar: Times Past, 1965: Redstar Rising”]

In an untold tale, Son of Vulcan battles an evil Asian warlord and his army, and later has an underwater battle with a sea creature. [Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #47]

May, 1965

College mythology professor Leonard Lambie, a henpecked husband, is given the powerful Golden Gauntlets of King Midas by the god Mars and becomes the new King Midas. He is a nuisance to the Son of Vulcan. [Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #47]

June, 1965

Blue Beetle II battles Mentor the Magnificent, a super-robot built by fellow Second City University professor Dr. Jeremiah Clugg and imbued with Clugg's personality and memories. Mentor the Magnificent is defeated and left to sink into the sea. Note: Shortly after this story, Dan Garrett is reunited with Luri Hoshid, and she becomes pregnant with his child, although he does not learn this until December. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v3 #51]

July, 1965

The Phantom XXI dies battling former Nazi soldiers with a U-boat and Nazi gold, leaving his son Kit Walker to become the Phantom XXII. Note: The Phantom's history, as presented in the comic strips and comic books, basically occurs on Earth-4. However, only some of the Phantom comic strip takes place on Earth-4, and only the events published in Charlton's Phantom series are known for sure to have occurred on Earth-4. The Phantom (Charlton) #67 presents the current Phantom's origin, which is set no more than ten years before the publishing date of 1975 based on the modern aircraft and the aging Nazis. At some point after this story, Kit Walker is reunited with his college sweetheart, Diana Palmer, now an archeologist. [The Phantom (Charlton) #67]

Ignoring its earlier vow not to harm Gorgo, the Pentagon begins a new attack on Gorgo. Dr. Hobart Howarth, a scientist, uses a time machine that he has invented to send Gorgo back to the Late Jurassic Period and is inadvertently pulled back in time with him. When the radiation that the time machine operates on wears off, the two are sent forward in time, first to the Ice Age and then to the 19th century during an unnamed European war. Gen. Barr and a sergeant are sent to the same time period, where they save Howarth's life. They are all sent forward to the time of the Spanish-American War and finally back to the present. Gen. Barr plans to advise the Pentagon to end its attacks on Gorgo. Note: After this story, Gorgo and Ogra are not seen again and presumably fall into another period of hibernation beneath the ocean. [Gorgo #23]

Son of Vulcan battles Mars himself, who is disguised as whaler Capt. Tusk. [Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #48]

August, 1965

Blue Beetle II battles Magno-Man (Dr. Louis Forte) and his subterranean agents, who cause earthquakes. He saves New York City from being destroyed. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v3 #52]

September, 1965

After a long search for the right candidates to use Prof. Jennings' devices, THUNDER (The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves) picks three men to use some of them. The elderly Anthony Dunn transfers his mind into a series of android bodies and, wearing the invisibility cloak, becomes the first THUNDER super-agent, NoMan. John Janus, secretly a Warlord infiltrator agent, wears the cybernetic helmet and becomes the second THUNDER super-agent, the telepathic and telekinetic Menthor. Leonard Brown wears the electron molecular intensifier belt (the Thunderbelt) to become the third THUNDER super-agent, the super-strong and super-tough Dynamo II. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1]

Dynamo II battles recurring arch-enemy, the Iron Maiden, an agent of the Warlord, for the first time. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1]

NoMan battles recurring criminal foe Demo, an agent of the Warlord, for the first time. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1]

While visiting the United States, Japanese national Tetsuro Tanaka (the Japanese costumed crime-fighter Tiger) at the age of 34 adopts the identity of Judomaster II. [speculation]

Sarge Steel becomes a special agent for the U.S. State Department. [Sarge Steel #6]

Konga II's last appearance. [Konga #23]

Son of Vulcan gains a new costume and battles Dr. Kong once again, who is aided by the god Mars (now using the newly created identity of millionaire Warren Masters). [Son of Vulcan #49]

October, 1965

Captain Atom reappears for a series of new cases, still top secret. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #78]

During an intentional re-enactment of Captain Atom's origin, Soviet cosmonaut Igor Kriss is vaporized in an atomic explosion and rematerializes himself. He is given a costume and the name Redstar, protector of the Soviet Union. His existence is kept a secret in the Kremlin for several years, and he has no further known appearances until 1985. [“Redstar: Times Past, 1965: Redstar Rising”]

Blue Beetle II battles the Praying Mantis Man for the last time, and the villain apparently falls to his death. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v3 #53]

November, 1965

Peter Cannon, trained by Tibetan monks to harness the energy of his entire brain to perform amazing feats, returns to America as the reluctant action hero, Thunderbolt, assisted by his Tibetan friend, Tabu. In his first case, he stops an assault on New York City by two tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs that were hatched and quickly grown under the machinations of Thunderbolt's recurring arch-foe, the Hooded One. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) #1]

During a battle with Dynamo, the Warlord (revealed to be a Subterranean) is killed in an atomic bomb explosion that destroys his Hudson Bay island headquarters, after he tried to start a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2]

During a mission in the South American nation of San Bolivar, the THUNDER Squad's Egghead sacrifices his life to save his teammates. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2]

Lt. David Jones (possibly a relative of Navy Jones) joins a top secret international organization called U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. (the United Nations Department of Experiment and Research Systems Established at Atlantis), headed by Prof. Weston (who has discovered the ruins of Atlantis). Dr. Fang of Red China, who has discovered Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean (populated by water-breathing primitive humans whom Fang enslaves to do Red China's bidding) and is responsible for capturing 13 naval vessels (U.S., British, and Australian) in the Pacific. Lt. David Jones is given a fantastic suit enabling him to breathe underwater, survive powerful depth pressure, and swim at incredible speed in order to become Undersea Agent. He is given the Sea Saucer, an underwater craft shaped like a flying saucer. [Undersea Agent #1]

Son of Vulcan battles his arch-foe Dr. Kong for the last time while playing the part of Achilles in a movie called Warrior Against Troy opposite star actress Lisa Connors. [Son of Vulcan #50]

December, 1965

Blue Beetle II battles the Eye of Horus, an ancient Egyptian menace that his predecessor, the Great Pharaoh, once battled 6,000 years ago. Note: Dr. Daniel Garrett is again reunited with his love interest, Egyptian Prof. Luri Hoshid. After this story, Luri reveals that she is pregnant with Dan's child, and Dan – in an uncharacteristic move (probably because he somehow knows his remaining time on this world is short) – proposes to Luri and marries her within a month in a whirlwind romance. Their daughter, Marian Garrett (Blue Beetle IV), is born in 1966. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v3 #54]

1966

January, 1966

Peter Cannon (Thunderbolt) meets Dr. Daniel Northrup Garrett (Blue Beetle II) in their civilian identities, each unaware of the other's action hero secret identity. The Hooded One remotely controls one Prof. Henry Karl in order to revive the mummy of the Egyptian sorceress Evila (alias Hatshepsut II?). Evila takes control over several New York criminals and begins an outbreak of crime as part of her plans to eventually rule supreme over the world. After a battle of the mind, Thunderbolt defeats Evila, who turns into a lifeless mummy once more. Note: After this story, Dr. Daniel Garrett goes on the vacation cruise that he mentions in this story. Since Dr. Garrett is known to have had a daughter around this time, it is possible that this is actually a honeymoon cruise with a new bride, possibly even Prof. Luri Hoshid herself. If this is the case, Dr. Garrett spends most of his last three months alive with his wife Luri, who becomes pregnant with his child around this time. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #51]

Dynamo meets a member of the Subterraneans and learns that the Warlord was one of that underground race. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3]

Dynamo battles the Red Dragon. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3]

February, 1966

Captain Atom frees an artificial moon from his recurring criminal foe, the tyrant Drako, who seeks to rule the Earth as well. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #80]

Guy Gilbert of the Thunder Squad becomes the super-agent known as Lightning, wearing a suit that grants him super-speed but also drains his life. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4]

Dynamo battles the Iron Maiden once more. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4]

March, 1966

Mr. L. Dedd (full name is Mr. Living Dedd) makes his first appearance. [Ghostly Tales #55]

Dr. M.T. Graves, the ghost fighter, makes his first appearance as a supernaturalist, although he has been active for many years. [Ghostly Tales #55]

March 10: Representatives of the Soviet Union tell the United Nations Security Council that it has established a base on the planet Venus and claims the entire planet. On March 12, United Nations representatives witness William Fields, alias Merman, a water-breathing human with gill implants, at U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. headquarters for the first time. Undersea Agent and Merman travel to Venus, where they destroy the Soviet base with the help of native Venusians. Note: The Venus in this story, which is habitable, may actually be the Venus of a parallel dimension. [Undersea Agent #5]

April, 1966

Jerry Steele, the hero formerly known as U.S. Jones and V-Man, makes an attempt to establish a new team of heroes called the Action Heroes and invites action heroes and former boy sidekicks to join. Established heroes Son of Vulcan, Thunderbolt, and Blue Beetle II (formerly Sparky, Blue Beetle's sidekick) show up, and new heroes the Green Spider (John Green, once the alter ego of Green Mask III), Captain USA (Michael Malone, former leader of the V-Boys, kid sidekicks of V-Man), and Superguy (Wilbur Klutz, formerly Lieutenant Hercules) also appear in response to Bill's invitation to the former kid sidekick crowd. In the end, only Blue Beetle II, Green Spider, Captain USA, and Superguy (all former kid heroes and/or kid sidekicks) remain interested in the team idea; the four instead decide to form a team called the Big Four (an homage to the Big Three) and make plans for another meeting, which is scheduled for a month from now but ultimately never occurs because of Blue Beetle II's death. [speculation based on Charlton Premiere v2 #3 and Watchmen #2]

A few days after the Action Heroes meeting, Ted Kord consults his former college roommate Dr. Dan Garrett to help him stop his criminal scientist uncle, Jarvis Kord, on Pago Island. Ted learns Garrett is Blue Beetle III, and Blue Beetle II dies stopping Jarvis Kord. Ted Kord, witnessing the death of his friend, begins months of extreme physical training while developing specialized weaponry to become the next Blue Beetle. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v4 #2]

Prof. Luri Garrett (nee Hoshid), widow of Dr. Daniel Garrett (Blue Beetle II), gives birth to their only child, a daughter named Marian Garrett. Note: Marian Garrett grows up to become Blue Beetle IV in 1986, acting concurrently with the still-active Blue Beetle III. [“Sentinels of Justice: The Calm Before the Storm”]

A side effect of Blue Beetle II's death is that the Big Four never forms, since Green Spider, Captain USA, and Superguy lose interest after the Beetle's death. These three operate as heroes only infrequently from this point on. [speculation]

The movie Warrior Against Troy, starring Son of Vulcan (who makes no more appearances) and star actress Lisa Connors, is released. Note: This movie was released several months after filming, when the main part of the story takes place. After this story, Johnny Mann finds that he is able to become the Son of Vulcan less and less frequently, until months or years pass between his changes. This situation continues until 1985, when he is able to become Son of Vulcan permanently. [Son of Vulcan #50]

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents battle the Mastermind for the first time. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #5]

The wild life and adventures of Bikini Luv begin. Note: This is the Earth-4 version of Bikini Luv, a character that exists on a comedy version of Earth-4 named Earth-412 (based on the name of Earth-12, home of the Inferior Five). [Go-Go #1]

May, 1966

Captain Atom battles Doctor Spectro once more, who is arrested and does not appear again until 1985. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #81]

Dynamo battles Red Star (Ling), agent of the Red Dragon. Note: The Red Star is not to be confused with Redstar (Igor Kriss) of the Soviet Union. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #6]

Thunderbolt battles the Tong, a man naming himself after the eponymous Chinese secret society, when his gang begins a crime spree in New York City. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #53]

July, 1966

Eve Eden, daughter of a United States Senator and an other-dimensional princess, with the power to become a living shadow besides her considerable martial arts expertise, becomes Nightshade, the darling of darkness. She is first the partner of Captain Atom and then a solo heroine in her own right. Like Captain Atom, she is a top secret agent unknown to the public. Captain Atom and Nightshade battle recurring criminal foe the Ghost, who is secretly Alec Rois. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #82]

The Shape, a unique artificial life form life form with the power to change its shape, is created by Prof. Saber S. “Scuba” Duba and has a single adventure accompanied by his friend, Duba's young nephew, Kevin Boyd. Note: Although this story was published in 1967, it was written and drawn in 1966 and sat collecting dust until its publication, as explained on the text page. [Charlton Premiere v2 #1]

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents battle the Overlord for the last time, when he dies. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #8]

August, 1966

A trio of young Greenwich Village musicians (Rick Strong, Cindy Carson, and Crunch Wilson) who comprise the folk-rock music group known as the Protestors are given super-abilities by special devices invented by the scientist Kolotov, a Russian exile using the name Jones, and fight crime as the Sensational Sentinels (Helio, Mentalia, and Brute). Note: It is possible that Kolotov – a Russian exile living in the United States for several years – was a protege of Jennings of THUNDER, which would explain why Kolotov's devices duplicate the powers of three THUNDER super-agents: Raven II, Menthor, and Dynamo II. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #54]

While searching for a cure for his temporarily ill friend Tabu, Thunderbolt travels through the Cave of the Peaks in the Himalayan Mountains and discovers a prehistoric lost land populated by dinosaurs and tribal pygmy warriors. He also encounters the Hooded One in person, although the two do not battle at this time. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #54]

In an untold story, Captain Atom loses his top secret status and becomes known to the public as a super-powered action hero. [speculation based on Captain Atom (Charlton) #83, in which he is known to the public]

September, 1966

After five months of preparation, Ted Kord has his first case in Hub City (a city on the eastern coast) as the action hero known as Blue Beetle III. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #83]

Christopher Smith, a diplomat who devises weaponry to be used against the perpetrators of war, has first public case as the globetrotting action hero known as the Peacemaker, stopping the plans of arms dealer Emil Bork to start wars between several small nations. [Fightin' 5 #40-41]

Captain Atom's original costume is punctured, causing him to lose radiation and puts him in a weakened state. While stopping a nuclear reactor from exploding in his weakened state, he loses his powers, seemingly forever. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #83]

October, 1966

Thunderbolt battles the Mummy, a scientist named Prof. Hugo Drummond who transferred his mind into the revived mummy of an Egyptian slave. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #55]

The Sensational Sentinels battle a robot created by their recurring criminal foe, the Mind-Bender (secretly Prof. John Linden). [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #55]

November, 1966

The depowered Captain Atom is unmasked by a henchman working for a villainous scientist named Prof. Danton Koste on live television, but no one recognizes him as Capt. Nathaniel Adam. Captain Atom's powers slowly begin to return, but they are now more limited than before, and he must take time to recharge. Captain Atom battles a man using power-pack-generated robotic arms who calls himself Iron Arms. Captain Atom – no longer using his old, damaged costume made of diulustel – is covered by a liquid metal that is absorbed into his skin and keeps his radiation in check, also serving as a redesigned costume. Note: Prof. Koste's first name is unrevealed in this appearance, but he is named Danton Koste in our story, The People Versus Major Force, as an homage to Danton Black, alias Multiplex, an enemy of Earth-1's Firestorm. Also revealed in that story is that the actual man who pulls off Captain Atom's mask is Emil Forsa, whom Prof. Koste later transforms into the atomic-powered villain Major Force. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #84]

December, 1966

The Protestors (the folk-rock band comprising the members of the Sensational Sentinels) make an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. In their last case, the Sensational Sentinels battle the Titan, a giant, super-strong android created by the Mind-Bender, and the Sentinels meet Sarge Steel of the CIA, whom they learn is controlled by the Mind-Bender. The Sensational Sentinels then defeat the Mind-Bender. Note: After this story, the Sensational Sentinels have a few undisclosed missions for Sarge Steel before retiring in 1968, when they store their special devices in a secret location. They live normal lives until the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, when they use their special devices one last time before giving them to Steel for others to use. The action heroine known as the Guardian (originally the Sentinel) is given the devices to use in 1986. The Sentinels of Justice, which is founded in 1968, is unaffiliated with the Sensational Sentinels. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #56-59]

1967

January, 1967

Irv “the Nerve” Haganah, a member of the Fightin' Five, dies. Sonja replaces him in the Fightin' Five. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #1]

Captain Atom and Nightshade battle Punch and Jewelee, who use found technology from the hidden land of Sunuria to commit crimes. Punch does not reappear until 1985. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #85]

Merman's last case. [Undersea Agent #6]

The Red Star's last appearance. [Dynamo #3]

Mike Manly's last case. [Fight the Enemy #3]

Thunderbolt returns to the prehistoric lost land full of dinosaurs accessible through the Himalayas, discovering it to be ruled by his enemy, the Hooded One. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #58]

February, 1967

Vic Sage, a crusading reporter, ferrets out facts by assuming the faceless identity of the Question in Crown City (a city on the eastern coast). He uses a special mask and chemical combination invented by his scientist friend and ally, Prof. Aristotle Rodor. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v4 #1]

Tiffany Sinn, an undercover operative for the CIA, has her first published adventure. She is nicknamed the CIA Sweetheart. [Career Girl Romances #39]

March, 1967

The Phantom XXII battles his recurring criminal foe, Strangol the river pirate (whose grandfather, Malcolm, had been strangled to death by a previous Phantom), for the first time. Note: The Phantom (Charlton) #60 to 63 are reprints of Italian Phantom strips, which were published in 1967 and thus take place then. Present-day Phantom stories begin with The Phantom (Charlton) #30. [The Phantom (Charlton) #60]

The Hooded One makes his last appearance as he tries to kill Thunderbolt in London, England. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #59]

The Peacemaker stops the threat of invasion from a group of mutated shapechanging mine slaves in the Ural Mountains that plan to replace the leaders of the world with doubles. Note: These shapechanging humans also had advanced weaponry from an unnamed underground civilization that must certainly be the Subterraneans who appeared in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #2]

The Peacemaker destroys the war machine of Premier Gekk of an unnamed Eastern European nation, saving the world from war and that nation from being destroyed in retaliation. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #2]

March 15: In 1966, Dr. Anthony Rex, an archeologist and curator of the Museum of Roman Art in London who is a friend of Dr. M.T. Graves, discovers what seems to be a statue of two Roman lovers. A year later, on the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 B.C., stone lovers mistaken for a statue receive the necessary forgiveness from Rex for failing to protect Caesar and are freed, able to finally die and turn to dust. [“The Ghosts of the Stone Lovers,” The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #1]

April, 1967

April 12: Astronaut Maj. Rex Costello launches a secret mission to land on the moon using a guided missile. There, Costello meets a race of telepathic aliens who do not breathe but live on cosmic rays. He also learns that, in 1945, a small party of Nazis reached the Moon and have lived there ever since, but have been kept isolated since their hatred caused discord among the alien civilization. Costello returns to Earth soon afterward, and the U.S. government determines to secretly colonize the Moon. Note: This story may mark the genesis of the Moonbase Alpha project, as seen in the timeline in which Space: 1999 takes place. [“Objective Moon,” Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #2 (January, 1957)]

Captain Atom and Nightshade battle the Ghost once more. The people of the hidden land of Sunuria, who worship the Ghost as the Faceless One, take him away to Sunuria. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #86]

May, 1967

The Peacemaker stops the plans of Italian physicist Enrico Lucetti to incite a world war in order to restart the human race from his vast underseas complex. Since 1960, Lucetti has also developed a race of formerly human fish-men. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #3]

June, 1967

Captain Atom battles the Fiery Icer (who does not reappear until 1983) for the first time. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #85]

Dynamo battles the Iron Maiden for the last time. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #15]

Christopher Smith (the Peacemaker) hires Nora O'Rourke as his new secretary and tells her his origin story. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #4]

August, 1967

Reporter Paul Mann investigates rumors of flying saucers and meets the supposed aliens, who are actually mutated humans from the year 4000 A.D. who have gone back in time to stop the Great War of 3998 A.D., which nearly destroyed the planet. Note: Paul Mann is likely related to another reporter with the same surname: John Mann, alias the Son of Vulcan. [Space Adventures v2 60 (Space Adventures Presents U.F.O. #1)]

The Phantom XXII battles Strangol with the help of his lover, Diana Palmer. [The Phantom (Charlton) #63]

Bikini Luv's last adventure. Note: Sometime after this story, Bikini is recruited to become a full-time government agent, which she has already had some experience with. Proving to be a talented agent and a tactical genius, she soon works her way up to the co-directorship position of Queen in CHESS (Command for the Hindrance of Espionage, Sabotage and Subversion). [Go-Go #9]

September, 1967

Fightin' Five's last public case, and the last published appearances of members Hank Hennessy, Granite Gallero, Frenchy the Fox, Tom-Tom, and Sonja. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #5]

The Peacemaker saves Washington, D.C., from an attack by Mister Blaze and his Lavamen. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #5]

Thunderbolt battles the Dragon Master and his men in Australia and New York City. [Thunderbolt (Charlton) v2 #60]

October, 1967

Sam Spolo, the Spy Smasher, has first public case. Note: Since Spolo's nickname is the same as that of the Earth-S character the Spy Smasher/Crime Smasher, it can be supposed that Spolo is the closest to an Earth-4 counterpart to Alan Armstrong of Earth-S that exists. Sam Spolo may or may not be the same figure as the Crime Smasher of the 1950s. [Fightin' Army #77]

Sarge Steel's last public case. [Judomaster #98]

In Captain Atom's last public case in the 1960s, a duo named Thirteen and Faustus (a cat) come to 1967 from a far future era to stop Captain Atom's enemy, the Ghost, from endangering their time line. Note: After this story, Captain Atom begins a series of deep-cover missions, no longer appearing except in rare cases as Captain Atom in public. At some point Gen. Clinton Eining forms the Captain Atom Project, a secret branch of the USAF that oversees Captain Atom's missions. Sometime during the late 1970s, Gen. Eining is forcibly replaced as project head by the up-and-coming Gen. Wade Wolfe, who later proves to be a traitor to the human race. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #89]

In Nightshade's last known case in the 1960s, she battles Jewelee, who does not reappear until 1985. [Captain Atom (Charlton) #89]

The Phantom XXII battles Strangol for the last time. [The Phantom (Charlton) #63]

Blue Beetle III battles the Middle Eastern cult of assassins known as the Men of the Mask. A man named Dan Greer impersonates Dr. Daniel Northrup Garrett and dies in that disguise, causing the end of the investigation into Garrett's disappearance. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v4 #4]

Charlie Droople and Dorothy Carson briefly travel to Earth-C4 (a world populated by intelligent funny animals, such as the super-powered Atomic Cat and Atomic Rabbit), and Charlie decides to remain there. After Dorothy returns to the real world, she discovers a comic-book called The Adventures of Charlie Droople and wonders why the name sounds familiar. [“The Best of All Possible Worlds,” The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #5]

1968

March, 1968

After having repeated confrontations with Sinistro, in which Green Spider, Captain USA, and Superguy are repeatedly humiliated, the three heroes decide to rethink their earlier Big Four team idea. They form a team called the Big Guys and invite other heroes to join, but no one else does. [speculation]

Bela Von Drak, a bearded blond European aristocrat, has a single appearance in which he tells stories from his vast collection of unlikely tales. [Charlton Premiere #4]

Dr. Niles Corey, leading an expedition with his daughter Cynthia, his assistant Michael Dunlap, and fortune hunter Vance Vargos, discovers the Lost Valley in Africa. The Lost Valley, accessible only through a long, dark tunnel filled with a radioactive fog, is seemingly full of mutated animals grown to gigantic stature by exposure to radiation; in fact, the radioactive fog changes people to a very small stature. All four members of the expedition, shrunken to a height of about six inches, are killed. [“The Expedition,” Charlton Premiere #4]

Wilbert Bland, an antisocial man who wishes to be left alone, gets his wish when no one but the girl he likes can see or hear him, and the girl is taken away to a psychiatric hospital because she is the only one who sees him. [“The Insignificant Man,” Charlton Premiere #4]

May, 1968

The Old Witch appears for the first time since the 1940s as the caretaker of the Ghost Manor, formerly owned by the late Mr. Greeves. [Ghost Manor #1]

Paul Mann solves the mystery of the UFO time travelers and travels in time himself in his last known case. [Space Adventures v3 #2]

June, 1968

June 2: John and Ellen Forbes are summoned to the old dead mining town of Boydston by a letter dated May 20, 1891. Arriving in Boydston, John and Ellen are brought back in time to 1891, where they meet John's great-grandfather, John Forbes. He explains that he summoned them back in time to try to save the town after a forbidden mine called the Devil's Cauldron was opened, releasing deadly gases. The ones who opened the mine were miners who had died and wanted others to join them in death. John and Ellen accompany the elder John Forbes into the mine, where they battle ghosts and ghouls until John finally seals the mine, saving the town. When they awake the next day, Boydston has become a bustling, modern-day town, since they altered history. John and Ellen settle in the town as they receive their family inheritance. [“The Devil's Cauldron,” Ghost Manor #5 (March, 1969)]

The reincarnation of Chufru, the Sun King – an Egyptian metallurgist, physicist and chemist of note – attempts to steal the world's gold and use it to coat the building blocks of a new pyramid he is building in the Egyptian desert, as a step towards re-establishing the culture of the Old Kingdom across the world. He is stopped by the Peacemaker in his last known case in the 1960s. [Peacemaker (Charlton) #6, unpublished]

Blue Beetle III meets Vic Sage. Note: Ted Kord and Vic Sage begin their long friendship at this time, which is helped by the fact that both are followers of Ayn Rand's philosophy, Sage moreso than Kord. [Blue Beetle (Charlton) v4 #5]

July, 1968

August, 1968

The Question's last known case in the 1960s, but he never retires. [Mysterious Suspense #1]

E-Man and Rosemary Bennett, a time-traveler from the 30th century, travel through time from the year 1984. They visit Chicago during the riots of the 1968 Democratic National Convention and meet Mayor Richard J. Daley. [E-Man (First) #18]

September, 1968

THUNDER Agents' last public case (and that of Dynamo II, NoMan, Lightning, and Raven II) in the 1960s. [T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #19]

October, 1968

Blue Beetle III's last known case in the 1960s. [Charlton Portfolio #1 (9&amp;10)]

November, 1968

The Sentinels of Justice is formed by Captain Atom, Blue Beetle III, Nightshade, and the Question, while the Peacemaker and Thunderbolt join later, eventually becoming reserve members. Note: The Sentinels of Justice, the origin of which has never been told, have probably been active for many years by the time of the Crisis, although the team only ever appeared in one published 1983 story. [speculation]

December, 1968

Flash Gordon has adventures on the planet Mongo, a planet that resides in another dimension but occasionally appears in this dimension. Note: Since the characters of the original Flash Gordon comic strip, first published in 1934, would be 30 years older than the characters in this series, the Flash Gordon comic strip does not take place in its entirety on Earth-4, although some of the events will be similar. Charlton's Flash Gordon series is independent of all other Flash Gordon stories and takes place on a planet Mongo that exists in another dimension. Although Flash Gordon's origin story is never told in the Charlton series, it can be assumed that, a few years before 1968, Flash Gordon and Dale Arden traveled with Dr. Hans Zarko on a rocketship built by Zarko to the planet Mongo. There, they eventually deposed the tyrant Ming the Merciless with the help of King Barin of Alania, Prince Vultan of the Hawkmen, and other monarchs. [Flash Gordon (Charlton) #12]

"Jungle" Jim Bradley begins his adventures as a Southeast Asian jungle explorer. Note: Since the Jim Bradley of the Jungle Jim comic strip, first published in 1934, would be in his late 50s or 60s by this time, and the Jim Bradley portrayed in this series is still young, this series takes place in its own continuity. The original Jungle Jim comic strip does not take place on Earth-4. [Jungle Jim (Charlton) #22]

In his astral body, Dr. M.T. Graves battles an evil otherdimensional being that seeks to conquer Earth. Seeing that it cannot defeat Dr. Graves, the evil being destroys the Earth. Graves sends his astral body two days back in time to warn his earlier self, changing history by preventing the Earth's destruction. After he defeats it, Graves sends the evil being to the other end of the universe, hoping it cannot return. [The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #12]

1969

February, 1969

Dan Flagg's last adventure. [Jungle Jim (Charlton) #23]

April, 1969

Professor Danton Koste turns a former henchman named Emil Forsa into the nuclear-powered villain, Major Force. Captain Atom and the Sentinels of Justice battle and defeat Major Force and Iron Arms (who makes no further appearances until 1983), but Koste escapes. [“Secret Origins: Major Force: The People Versus Major Force”]

June 15: While he is physically present at City Hall getting a marriage license with his fiancee, Helen Watson (the daughter of Police Chief Henry Watson), the normally timid Walter Cooper psychically projects himself to three different places to prevent a bank robbery, save a boy who fell into the river from a bridge, and stop a train before it reaches a broken track. No further appearances. [“The Man Who Wasn't There,” Haunted (Charlton) #4]

July, 1970

The White Angels' last adventure. [Surf n' Wheels #6]

The Surf Kings' last adventure. [Surf n' Wheels #6]

September, 1970

After three months as a musical group, the Partridge Family plays their first big show at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. [The Partridge Family (1970 ABC television series)]

November, 1970

Steve Austin participates in Moonshot XYZ, the first of three of his missions to the Moon. Note: This is speculation based on the reference to a moon landing taking place 20 months before the accident that precedes his becoming a cyborg. It is possible that this moon landing (possibly called Apollo 19, even though it precedes earlier-numbered public Apollo missions) is classified and unknown to the public. This moon landing may have been classified because it involved investigations of extraterrestrial life on the Moon. Austin's second (and only public) Moon landing is the Apollo 17 mission in December, 1972. His third (classified) Moon landing is in October, 1977, as an OSI agent. [The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

1971

Steve Austin's ex-wife Karen dies, and Austin learns of his son Michael Austin's existence. Since he is unable to raise his son at this time, Austin leaves Michael with Karen's sister Mary. Austin pays for all of Michael's schooling from this point on. [The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

THUNDER is officially disbanded as an active intelligence agency, remaining in name only and in scaled-down form. The super-agents and the Thunder Squad are disbanded, and only NoMan remains as an active agent. [“THUNDER Agents: Reactivation”]

March, 1971

Carter Primus, based on his floating home and sea lab off the coast of Nassau, Bahamas, has first public case as an underwater troubleshooter-for-hire. [Primus (1971 syndicated television series); Primus #1]

July, 1971

Wealthy businessman Aldous Benton gains the Tabriz Rose, a Persian rug woven by Haji Al Ub centuries ago and cursed to drive any man of evil who owns it mad (including former owner Adolf Hitler), and is himself driven mad and dies trapped in a room as the rug catches fire. [“The Room of Madness,” Haunted (Charlton) #1]

August, 1971

September, 1971

John Allen Wallington, Death Defier's last adventure. [Haunted (Charlton) #2]

The immortal Count d'Echere, having lived nearly two centuries since his supposed death, finally dies after almost killing American antique dealer Paul Hebert, who is saved by d'Echere's maidservant Angelique. [“Door to Yesterday,” Haunted (Charlton) #2]

December, 1971

Prof. John Willmore, known to some as the Human Fish because he is a man born with both gills and lungs, keeps his abilities a secret and does special work for the U.S. government. [Primus #1]

1972

January, 1972

In his last known case, John Willmore finds his way to the Gulf of Mexico, where red organisms are choking out the normal chain of life. He finds the source – a strange coral – and uses flame throwers supplied by the military to destroy the the source, thus cleansing the sea. [Primus #2]

February, 1972

In London, England, the mortally ill Dr. Emil Reimer averts death by a complicated scheme in which he hired as his nurse and assistant a 200-year-old witch named Romaine Duvalle. Knowing Romaine was romantically involved with a young surgeon named Dr. David Marsh, Reimer transfers all his worldly goods to Marsh and allows Romaine to perform a spell transferring Reimer's consciousness to Marsh's body. While she intended for Marsh to gain only Reimer's skill and knowledge, Reimer gains complete control over Marsh's body and sends Romaine away. [“Let Us Work Together,” Haunted (Charlton) #5]

April, 1972

The Phantom XXII rescues two astronauts named Jim and Alan, whose space capsule crash-lands in the jungles of Bangalla. [The Phantom (Charlton) #50]

Exploring an almost-insurmountable valley in Bangalla, the Phantom XXII discovers a lost Roman colony called New Rome, which was founded by Roman legionnaires centuries ago. [The Phantom (Charlton) #50]

May, 1972

The Phantom Lady, after more than a decade of intense training with the mystical being Azagoth, has become a powerful sorceress and is virtually immortal. [speculation based on Phantom Lady (Paragon) #1]

August, 1972

September, 1972

Winnie the Witch meets Dr. M.T. Graves. [Ghostly Haunts #27]

The Partridge Family plays host to Princess Genevieve of an unnamed European nation. Keith Partridge almost causes a diplomatic incident when a photographer captures a picture of him kissing the princess at a drive-in movie theater. Note: The unnamed European monarchy is not identified in this episode, but the country's main export is textiles, and the country's diplomat is Frederick La Forge. While Princess Genevieve (who prefers to be called Genny) speaks with an American accent, La Forge speaks with an English accent. Based on the names Genevieve and La Forge, the country's language is probably French, making the country similar to Belgium; since Earth-1 contains a country named Markovia (where Geo-Force of the Outsiders and Terra of the Teen Titans come from), which occupies part of Belgium, it is possible that a similar country exists on Earth-4, although possibly with a different name. Since Genevieve speaks with an American accent, her mother may be American herself. A coat of arms of the nation is seen on the princess' plane that has a crown on top, with a shield containing a winged creature on the left, a red-patterned bend sinister in the middle, and a blue field with white stars on the right. [“Princess and the Partridge,” The Partridge Family (1970 ABC television series)]

October, 1972

Prof. Cyrus Coffin (an archeology professor at Xanadu University who is nicknamed the Midnight Philosopher) and his niece, Arachne Coffin (an archeology college student at Xanadu University), begin adventures. Note: Arachne Coffin attends the same college – Xanadu University – as Nova Kane from E-Man, and the two are both archeology students and friendly acquaintances. Arachne's father was Elias Coffin, brother of Cyrus. Arachne's boyfriend is a college student named Lupus, who is secretly a werewolf. [Midnight Tales #1]

November, 1972

December, 1972

NASA astronaut Steve Austin commands the Apollo 17 space mission, the final manned Moon mission, becoming the last man to officially walk on the Moon. [“The Moon and the Desert, Part 1,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

1973

The Fightin' Five has its last case in Iran when it conducts a disastrous operation against the Mars Council, an arms-smuggling operation. The deaths some team members are caused by Bernard Spielman and Donald Pierce, leaders in the Mars Council. Note: Little has been revealed about this last disastrous case of the Fightin' Five, but it is strongly hinted that some or most of the members of the team at this time die. The only members of the team definitely known to survive are Capt. Hank Hennessy and Antonio “Granite” Gallero. It is probable that Frenchy the Fox, Tom-Tom, and Sonja are killed in this mission. Hennessy spends the next decade in retirement until being recruited in 1985 to lead a team of metahumans under the LAW (Living Assault Weapons) program of CHESS (Command for the Hindrance of Espionage, Sabotage and Subversion) and in 1987 he is recruited to head up operations of the new Thunder Squad for THUNDER (The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves). Gallero, meanwhile, in 1974 joins Italy's counter-terrorist division, NOCS (Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza, or the Central Security Operations Service), and Hennessy recruits him in 1987 to become the field leader of the Thunder Squad for THUNDER. [“L.A.W.: Living Assault Weapons, Chapter 3: The Target”]

January, 1973

Steve Austin, NASA astronaut and pilot, has an accident in which he loses his right arm, his left eye, and both his legs. The Office of Strategic Operations (OSO) – initially headed by Oliver Spencer but taken over during this time by Oscar Goldman – funds an operation in which Austin has six million dollars worth of cybernetic equipment implanted in his body, making him a cyborg with a bionic eye and enhanced strength and speed. He spends months learning how to use his bionic limbs. Note: Although the serialized version of the original telefilm (which aired in March, 1973) claims that Steve Austin's accident occurs 20 months after his moon landing, this cannot be reconciled with the airdates of the TV series. Austin's moon landing mission is known to be Apollo 17, which took place historically in December, 1972; 20 months after that is August, 1974, halfway through the airing of the first season. Clearly, the reference to 20 months later cannot work. According to the Charlton comic, a period of six months passed between Steve Austin's accident/operation and his first mission as an OSI agent. Since Austin went on a Moon mission in December, 1972, and the events of the telefilm “Wine, Women and War” take place from August to September, 1973, this leaves a six-month window only from January, 1973, to July, 1973. It is during this six-month period that occurs Austin's accident, his operation, and his rehabilitation period in which he learns to walk once more and use his bionic implants. During the same six-month period, the OSO's name changes to OSI, the Office of Scientific Intelligence, which is again changed to the Office of Special Investigations in the 1980s; it takes some time before all name changes are made, explaining why OSO is seen in the telefilm while OSI is seen in the comic-book, which both take place at the same time. Although Oscar Goldman is not seen in the original telefilm, he appears behind the scenes throughout, as he slowly transitions into his new job, taking over for Oliver Spencer. [The Six Million Dollar Man (1973 ABC made-for-television movie); The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series); Six Million Dollar Man (comic) #1; Six Million Dollar Man (magazine) #1]

David Goldman, a Jewish man, and Eileen O'Brien, an Irish Catholic woman, are married and begin dealing with their families' prejudices. Note: This series is likely inspired by the 1972 television series Bridget Loves Bernie, which features the then-controversial marriage of a Jewish man and an Irish Catholic woman, played by David Birney and Meredith Baxter. [Just Married #93]

March, 1973

Scot Jackson's last adventure. [Drag n' Wheels #59]

April, 1973

Edgar Marron discovers the secret of teleportation and plans to withdraw a million from his join checking account with his wife, Cynthia. Her father, the wealthy invalid M.J. Sneed, notes that Marron has been reading about teleportation and sets a trap for him. After Marron leaves for the bank, Sneed has the gardener fill the pool with water, guessing that was where Marron teleported from; when Marron returned, he returned to a full pool of water and died by drowning. [“Everybody's Gotta Die Someplace,” Haunted (Charlton) #13]

May, 1973

After traveling through space for a million years since it was born from an exploding star, a sentient pocket of energy able to form itself into any kind of matter inadvertently causes an extraterrestrial starship from the planet Sirius One (which plans to test a dangerous weapon on Pluto) to crash-land on Earth near Pine Hill, New York. [E-Man (Charlton) #1] After arriving on Earth and disguising himself as a fawn, the future E-Man learns English from a Southern girl of the town of Hog Wallow named Maisy-June Bragg, who reads fairy tales out loud to wildlife in the woods every day. After revealing himself to her as being from outer space, E-Man becomes her personal genie, performing tricks for her amusement. When a group of superstitious yokels hunt her down for being a witch, E-Man saves her and creates his first action-hero costume with a cape and logo with the letter G for Genie. After Maisy-June is captured and tied to a stake to be burnt alive, E-Man comes to save her, ditching the cape that just gets in the way. When he scares off the yokels, a scared and angry Maisy-June demands that he kill them all and destroy Hog Wallow for her. E-Man learns from her mother that Maisy-June has serious psychological problems and has been hospitalized much of her life. E-Man returns her to the hospital and leaves, feeling sorry for her. Note: Maisy-June later recovers and marries a man named Dabney Slocum. Maisy-June Bragg and Dabney Slocum are Earth-4 versions of Daisy-Mae Scragg and Abner Yokum from Al Capp's Li'l Abner comic strip. The town of Hog Wallow is the Earth-4 version of Dogpatch. [E-Man (Charlton) #10]

Ted Kord (Blue Beetle III) and Tracey Simmons are married in a ceremony planned by wedding planner Lemuel Toadkin. The Sentinels of Justice learn that Dan Garret, the original Blue Beetle, is still alive and still as young as he was in the 1940s. Note: Sometime after this story, the original Blue Beetle appears to die but actually survives, kept in a coma-like state by mysterious gods until he returns once more in 1983. [“Sentinels of Justice: The Calm Before the Storm, Chapter 3: Blue Beetle”]

July, 1973

The sentient pocket of energy takes human form under the name E-Man and meets archeology college student (at Xanadu University) and part-time exotic dancer (at the Moist Palms Club, a burlesque club) Katrinka Colchnzski, who uses her stage name of Nova Kane exclusively, in New York City. He soon creates an action hero costume and has his first case, in which he and Nova travel to Pine Hill to stop his recurring enemy the Brain of Sirius from detonating a gas bomb that causes hatred. Note: Nova Kane attends the same college – Xanadu University – as Arachne Coffin from Midnight Tales, and the two are both archeology students and friendly acquaintances. [E-Man (Charlton) #1]

Link Chain, known as the Knight, has a single known case (Operation: Rotten Apple) as a secret agent of a top-secret, counter-espionage organization known as C.H.E.S.S. (Command for the Hindrance of Espionage, Sabotage and Subversion). Note: The King and the Queen, directors of CHESS, are Ken Flynn (K-51) and Bikini Luv, respectively. [E-Man (Charlton) #1]

Steve Austin has his first test run as an agent of OSI, infiltrating a terrorist camp where he rescues an Israeli prisoner. Following this test, Steve Austin's bionic eye is briefly replaced by one that can shoot a laser. Austin then has his first official case as an OSI agent, in which he infiltrates a Chinese missile base at Lop Nor, where he battles a powerful robot and rescues a female scientist named Nai Ku, who is secretly an OSI agent. Note: Presumably the bionic eye that acts as a laser can only be implanted for brief periods of time and for specific missions, since Austin only uses a laser eye in a handful of missions (specifically the ones portrayed in the Charlton comic; in the TV series he is never shown having laser eye capabilities). [The Six Million Dollar Man (1973 ABC made-for-television movie); “The Moon and the Desert, Part 2,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series); Six Million Dollar Man (comic) #1]

July 28: Caroline Dean, a martial arts whiz and trained astronaut who has super-strength and super-durability, is the action heroine Liberty Belle and has a single known case. She unofficially becomes the first American female astronaut in space (months before the first official American woman in space early next year, Maj. Kelly Woods) when she reveals that Maj. Richard Neal is actually the Soviet spy Kalovsky and replaces him on a four-man Skylab 3 mission commanded by Dr. Allen Joyce. She defends the mission against space pirates. Note: Caroline Dean may have been one of the six civilians in the astronaut training program, along with Steve Austin, who later became the cyborg OSI agent nicknamed the Six Million Dollar Man. Given her powers and patriotic motif, it is possible that Caroline Dean is the daughter of Joan Wayne, the mystery woman known as Miss Victory. Since she is already known to the U.S. Government, she may have had previous cases as Liberty Belle. The involvement of Liberty Belle in the Skylab 3 mission is unrevealed to the public, who believe that the mission involves three male astronauts, including Maj. Richard Neal. In actual history, the Skylab III mission took place from July 28, 1973, to September 25, 1973, was commanded by Alan L. Bean, and was largely uneventful. [E-Man (Charlton) #5]

August, 1973

Sam Spolo's last case. [Attack v4 #14]

September, 1973

E-Man adopts the name of Alec Tronn, which Nova Kane made up based on the word electron. In New York City's Central Park, E-Man battles recurring foes Michael and Juno, who are actually a pair of living weapons called the Entropy Twins sent from Sirius One to aid the Brain (who has healed and repaired itself over the last two months) in his vendetta against E-Man. As revenge for hurting Nova, the energy man changes Michael and Juno's chemical composition, forcing them to keep away from each other or be destroyed. [E-Man (Charlton) #2]

Killjoy, who uses a multitude of aliases as his secret identity, has first public case. [E-Man (Charlton) #2]

1974

January, 1974

Mastermind II (real name Cy Key) is brought to Earth from the planet Psi through a psychic research experiment by Dr. Bellum and his daughter Sara, and he has a single case. Note: Cy Key may come from the same planet as Cerebra of the Vanguards, which is called Onym but may also be known by other names, such as Psi. If this is the case, then Cy Key and Cerebra are the last two remaining members of their species. [Mastermind #1, unpublished; synopsis appears in Comic Book Artist #12]

February, 1974

Steve Austin battles and destroys a robot duplicate of his friend, Maj. Frederick Sloan, that was invented by the criminal robotics genius Dr. Chester Jeffrey Dolenz, a recurring foe. [“Day of the Robot,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

March, 1974

After an earthquake sets off a computer-controlled nuclear defense system at Kamkov Island in the Soviet Union, Steve Austin travels with his friend and USSR astronaut Col. Vasily Zhukov to rescue Zhukov's fiancee, Irina Leonova. While there, Austin disarms the nuclear bomb, preventing it from destroying the island. Zhukov is killed by the automated defense system in the base. Zhukov and Leonova learn that Austin is a bionic man, and Soviet intelligence presumably also learns it not long afterward. [“Doomsday, and Counting,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

March 4: Roger Knight, the U.K.'s Labour Party leader and Leader of the Opposition since 1970, now becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Note: In actual history, Labour Party leader Harold Wilson was the UK Prime Minister from 1974 to 1976 (and earlier from 1964 to 1970). In Earth-4's history, however, Roger Knight succeeded Wilson as Labour Party leader in the early 1970s and became Prime Minister from 1974 to 1978. [“Camelot: In Search of the Truth”]

During New York City's energy crisis, E-Man helps out by powering hospitals and power generators. Nova Kane hires Michael Mauser, a short, unkempt, tactless, rat-faced private detective with thick glasses (who hates to be called Mickey), to find her missing friend, fellow exotic dancer Rosie Redd. E-Man ends up having to save both Nova and Mauser from the evil machinations of Samuel Boar, an oil magnate who at this time is the richest, most powerful man in the world. E-Man battles Boar's android, the Battery, who can absorb all energy (including E-Man) and can absorb matter by turning it into energy. The action hero destroys this version of the Battery and arrests Boar, whose oil empire and wealth are dismantled. Meanwhile, E-Man becomes Michael Mauser's partner at his detective agency, but his lack of any detecting skills makes him more of a sometime assistant to Mauser. [E-Man (Charlton) #3]

The Partridge Family's last adventure. [The Partridge Family (1970 ABC television series)]

Astronauts Maj. Kelly Woods and Maj. Paul Osterman are launched in Athena One for a revived Apollo mission to discover new sources of energy in space. The mission is televised and widely publicized because Maj. Woods is the first official American woman in space. Steve Austin serves as Woods' trainer and flight dynamics officer, effectively the chief pilot on the ground. After an explosion damages the capsule and injures Osterman, Woods pilots Athena One to Skylab, while Austin pilots a rescue mission with a flight surgeon, Dr. Richard Wolf. Rendezvousing with Athena One at Skylab, Austin performs external repairs on the capsule while Dr. Wolf performs the first official surgery in space on Osterman. After Austin's bionics malfunction due to high radiation levels, Woods pilots Athena One, containing the other three, back to Earth. Note: Although Maj. Kelly Woods is called the first American woman in space, this is not the case except officially. In July, 1973, Liberty Belle (Caroline Dean) took the place of one of the male astronauts in the Skylab 3 mission, but her presence was not revealed to the public. Also, there were numerous other voyages into space that remain unknown to the public, including the space voyages of Flash Gordon (accompanied by Dale Arden) and Rocket Kelly (accompanied by Diana Andrews). This episode probably takes place at least over several weeks, if not months. Probably the events shown in the following episodes take place three months later than the original dates they aired; this is confirmed by the episode “The Last of the Fourth of Julys,” which takes place in July, three months after its air date. [“The Rescue of Athena One,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

April, 1974

Destiny Fox is a young woman reincarnated from an Apache princess sacrificed 200 years ago to the river spirit Whahanee, who fed on her. She tricks Whahanee into becoming a meal for her instead, gaining all his powers, including immortality. No further appearances. [Ghostly Haunts #39]

A fortune hunter named Jim Kane, searching for the valuable Mugumbo Diamond in the jungles of Africa, instead discovers a white jungle princess named La-Na, who is impervious to harm and who wears the diamond around her neck. He cons her into loving him in order to receive the same secret elixir that makes people invulnerable, then steals the diamond from her and flees. Unfortunately, he has caught a bad case of jungle fever, and the doctor is unable to help him since hypodermic needles cannot break his skin. The Mugumbo people found La-Na wandering in the jungle when she was a small child and raised her to lead their tribe. She was taught English by a blind missionary who lived with the tribe. [“Greed,” Haunted (Charlton) #17]

Baron Weirwulf, who lives in a stately castle with a haunted library looming over the village of Vlk high in the Balkan Mountains, makes his first appearance. [Haunted (Charlton) #17; Ghost Manor v2 #19]

David Goldman and Eileen O'Brien Goldman's last appearance. [Just Married #101]

The members of the Partridge family (Shirley Partridge and her five children, Keith Partridge, Laurie Partridge, Danny Partridge, Chris Partridge, and Tracy Partridge), along with their agent Reuben Kincaid, are somehow transported from the year 1974 to the year 2200, where they quickly adapt to life in the future. Note: This is an as-yet-untold tale based on the fact that the Partridge Family appears in an animated series taking place in the year 2200 A.D. Probably the Partridge Family and Kincaid disappear during a trip by air, when the plane passes through a vortex leading to the future. The public at large only knows that the Partridge Family and their manager have gone missing and are presumed dead, creating a mystery akin to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1938 or the crew and passengers of the Mary Celeste in 1872. The mystery of their disappearance probably makes them more famous when missing than they are before it happens. [Partridge Family, 2200 A.D. (1974 Hanna-Barbera animated series)]

May, 1974

While on an expedition in Egypt (as part of Nova Kane's college studies), E-Man and Nova discover an ancient tower that proves to be a time machine in the ruins of the lost city of Naab. They use it to travel back to the year 3,000 B.C., where they discover that Naab was a super-scientific, advanced civilization founded by humanlike extraterrestrials. They meet the deposed ruler of Ramis and stop a plague, which they learn was intentionally caused by the current ruler Faro in a scheme to take over Naab and then the whole world. With E-Man's help, Ramis regains his throne, and the plague is destroyed before E-Man and Nova return to the present. [E-Man (Charlton) #4] [E-Man (Charlton) #4]

Killjoy's last public case. [E-Man (Charlton) #4]

July, 1974

July 4: Steve Austin infiltrates a base operated by an international criminal named Quail. There, with the help of a female Interpol agent known as Violette, Austin sabotages a laser that would have killed everyone at a summit meeting in Paris of the prime ministers of the seven member countries of a neutral septpartite bloc. Note: Although this episode aired on April 5, it actually takes place three months later in July, as per the title. [“The Last of the Fourth of Julys,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

After astronaut Josh Lang is exposed to a strange electrical field while in orbit, he begins exhibiting super-intelligence and the psychic abilities to communicate with dolphins and control the human mind. His friend Steve Austin tries to save his career with NASA but fails to save his life when the psychic power burns out his mind, killing him. [“Burning Bright,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

Steve Austin discovers what happened to his father, Carl Austin, during World War II. After traveling to a location near the Chinese border, where his father's DC-3 crashed, he meets an American named Christopher Bell who proves to be his father's co-pilot and explains that his father did not, as believed, bail out of the plane, leaving his crew to die; instead, it was Bell who bailed out. Carl Austin's remains are disinterred and reburied at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C., with full military honors. Note: Although this episode aired on April 19, it actually takes place three months later in July since the previous episode also takes place in July. [“The Coward,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

August, 1974

Science teacher John Butler and his family (his wife Kim Butler, their children Katie and Greg Butler, and their dog Digger) are exploring the Amazon River when they are sucked into a whirlpool that takes them to the Valley of the Dinosaurs. [Valley of the Dinosaurs (1974 Hanna-Barbera animated series); Valley of the Dinosaurs (Charlton) #1]

E-Man follows a strange lady from the sea into her own dimension. There, he saves a civilization from a giant, whale-like narwhal monster called Empirex, which can swallow whole cities. [E-Man (Charlton) #5]

E-Man teams up with Blue Beetle III and Captain Atom for a single case, in which they all participate in a parade. Note: This story has not been told, but it involves E-Man becoming a reserve member of the Sentinels of Justice, whose full-time membership he turns down. Captain Atom is seen using his original costume in this story, although he likely uses it in this one instance, since he is seen again in his second costume exactly one year later, in August, 1975. [“Death in a Darkroom,” Ghost Manor v2 #21]

Steve Austin is remotely tested over some weeks by Dr. Dolenz, who plans to build bionic robots based on Austin's bionics for a criminal employer. Austin is briefly captured but ends up apprehending all the criminals except Dolenz, who again slips away. Note: Although this episode aired on April 26, it actually takes place three months later in July and August since the previous episode also takes place in July, and this episode takes place over a few weeks. [“Run, Steve, Run,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

September, 1974

In the province of Bavaria, Germany, a mad scientist named Dr. Franklin Stein attempts to create an artificial man with the help of his assistant, Igor. Needing more human blood to make the artificial man live, Stein acts as host to a traveling couple named John and Mary Benton. When the couple falls asleep, Stein and Igor plan to harvest their blood. Instead, they become the latest victims of the Bentons, who are vampires locally known as the Blood Killers. The Bentons die shortly afterward. Note: Dr. Franklin Stein is probably a descendant of the infamous 18th century scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein. [“The Unholy,” Haunted (Charlton) #19]

Countess R.H. Von Bludd, having resided in the Dark Valley for 500 years, leaves for civilization and begins preying only on the most evil of men in European cities before returning to her castle momentarily. Note: At some point after this story, the Countess relocates to the United States. [“The Card of Death,” Scary Tales #3 (December, 1975)]

October, 1974

E-Man and Nova Kane visit the Wunderworld theme park in Florida and meet its founder, William Wunder. But they discover that the Brain from Sirius secretly controls the theme park and has replaced the deceased William Wunder with an android lookalike. With the help of an old man called the Toyman (Wunder's partner who designed all the theme park rides), E-Man stops the Brain, supposedly destroying it. [E-Man (Charlton) #6]

Rog 2000, a robot created by a Canadian inventor named Jonathan Burns, has his first public case as a taxi driver and takes on a super-villain named Magno, with the help of Syntac (in her only appearance), a feminine android with laser-vision also created by Burns. [E-Man (Charlton) #6]

Arachne Coffin wins the Miss Fortune 1974 contest, beating fellow contestant Winnie the Witch. Arachne wins a one-week vacation to the so-called hidden land of Cryptania, where she and her uncle Prof. Cyrus Coffin promptly fall into a crevice and are captured by an underground tribal civilization that wants to sacrifice them to their gods. Jealous of losing the contest, Winnie travels to Cryptania on her flying broomstick and arrives just in time to save Arachne's life and rescue the two. [Ghostly Haunts #42]

November, 1974

Samuel Boar, earlier arrested by E-Man, escapes from prison and heads for the North Pole. [E-Man (Charlton) #8]

Steve Austin meets the world's second bionic man, Barney Miller (also called Barney Hiller), who proves to be unstable. [“The Seven Million Dollar Man,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

December, 1974

As revenge for keeping him from Juno, Michael of the Entropy Twins becomes the super-villain known as TV Man and begins manipulating E-Man's energy nature, transforming him into monstrous characters on television. In their final showdown, Michael transforms E-Man into the giant ape, Konga. But Juno's intervention saves E-Man from being killed while in his matter form. E-Man enables Michael and Juno to be reunited again. [E-Man (Charlton) #7]

1975

January, 1975

Baron Weirwulf becomes the new proprietor of the Haunted Castle. Note: It is not known whether the Haunted Castle is referring to Cheldenham Castle from Haunted #16, which was referred to as the Haunted Castle, or another location entirely. If the Haunted Castle is Cheldenham Castle, then the ghost of the third Earl of Gilliam would have relaxed his rules about only his descendants occupying it; also, Lady Cynthia Chelden is the owner of Cheldenham Castle as of 1974 and would probably still be living in it. [Haunted (Charlton) #21]

Impy's last appearance. [Haunted (Charlton) #21]

Baron Weirwulf tells a story of how an old lighthouse keeper, who is an acolyte of Cthulhu, summons a seaborne apparition of Cthulhu called Kulu to exact justice on a murderer named Joe Hardy. Note: This story likely takes place decades earlier. [“Out of the Deep,” Haunted (Charlton) #21]

February, 1975

Hearing of Samuel Boar's escape from prison, E-Man tracks him down at the North Pole, where he meets an Australian man named Alfie Alcott and his pet koala, Teddy. Boar has his new, improved Battery absorb E-Man into itself, and he takes E-Man through an entrance in the North Pole to the inner Earth world he calls Nuclia, where dinosaurs still thrive alongside eight-foot-tall, muscular jungle people. There, Boar wants E-Man to help him steal the miniature sun that provides heat and light to Nuclia. He has Alcott kidnap Nova Kane to force E-Man to do so, but instead E-Man is unable to rescue her before she is subjected to a minor eruption of the sun. Thanks to her close proximity to E-Man, she is transformed into an energy pocket like him, gaining all of E-Man's super-powers, and becomes the action-heroine known as Nova, the energy woman. E-Man and Nova destroy the Battery and bring Boar and Alcott to the surface to be arrested. They adopt Teddy the koala as their pet, renaming him Teddy Q. Note: Over the next few years, Teddy Q's intelligence increases from that of a normal koala to that of human intelligence, since by 1984 he is able to write letters in English. No explanation has yet been provided for Teddy Q's intelligence. [E-Man (Charlton) #8]

April, 1975

Mortimer Tishin makes his first appearance, although he claims to have been practicing as an undertaker since long before records were kept of his trade. [Beyond the Grave #1]

A man named Philip Scott is possessed by what seems to be the spirit of Jack the Ripper and kills two airline stewardesses while on a flight to London, England. After Scott is arrested in London, Jack the Ripper appears to possess a young boy named Jackie who was on the flight. [“Nightmare Flight,” Beyond the Grave #1).

E-Man and Nova are recruited by Gen. Dove to stop an organization of super-geniuses led by Carl Metz that aim to take over the world. The super-geniuses' heads and brains grew large after ingesting a unique plant, and they settled on an island that they made their base. After Nova destroys the crop of plants, the super-geniuses' swelled brains shrink to smaller sizes than they had originally been, making them stupid. Gen. Dove's military forces easily overtake the island. [E-Man (Charlton) #9]

May, 1975

Countess R.H. Von Bludd, now residing in an old house somewhere in America in the company of a white cat, begins telling various scary tales to mortal listeners to amuse herself. (She also tells unlikely tales under the pseudonym Bella Von Drak.) [Scary Tales #1]

Col. Whiteshroud has first public case as a monster hunter. [Monster Hunters #1]

June, 1975

The Question battles his old foe, the Banshee II, who was stuck on a deserted island for seven years. Note: This story takes place exactly eight years after the Banshee's last appearance in 1967. [Charlton Bullseye #5]

E-Man tells Nova Kane about the first human woman he met on Earth, Maisy-June Bragg. Since E-Man put her back into the hospital, Maisy-June recovered and married a man named Dabney Slocum. Note: Maisy-June Bragg and Dabney Slocum are Earth-4 versions of Daisy-Mae Scragg and Abner Yokum from Al Capp's Li'l Abner comic strip. The town of Hog Wallow is the Earth-4 version of Dogpatch. [E-Man (Charlton) #10]

Rog 2000's last known case. [E-Man (Charlton) #10]

Jaime Sommers sustains major injuries from a skydiving accident, and she is operated on to become the cyborg known as the Bionic Woman. [“The Bionic Woman, Part 1,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series); The Bionic Woman (1976 ABC television series); Bionic Woman #1]

July, 1975

Jaime Sommers supposedly dies when her body rejects its bionic implants; in fact, she clinically dies but is revived and is close to death for months. [“The Bionic Woman, Part 2,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

August, 1975

Captain Atom and Nightshade come out of deep cover assignments to battle their recurring criminal enemy, the Ghost, in Sunuria. All three do not reappear until 1982. [Charlton Bullseye #1-2]

September, 1975

Steve Austin discovers that Jaime Sommers is still alive, and he helps her deal with her bionics. Sommers participates in her first mission with OSI, but because of complications, she begins months of rehabilitation. [“The Bionic Woman, Part 2,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

Malachi Bolt, the great-grandson of the eccentric 19th century criminal genius Elias Bolt, completes the rebuilding of Bolt Manor in the town of Soulbridge, New York. Discovering his great-grandfather's most secret manuscripts in the foundation, Malachi performs the mind-transference procedure to switch his mind with a cat, and he begins to exact revenge on several citizens descended from the townspeople who killed Elias Bolt. Unfortunately, he is captured and then discovers there is no way to return his mind to his human body. In the cat's body he is killed, while the cat's mind remains in Malachi's body. [“Incident at Soulbridge,” Beyond the Grave #3]

A 15-year-old French schoolgirl named Lucille Michaud learns she has amazing psychic powers, including the ability to create an insubstantial, cloud-like monster that can consume evil men. Her aunt, Anna Michaud, tries to use Lucille's powers for crime but is instead killed by the psychic monster from Lucille's mind. [“All in the Mind of Lucille Michaud,” Beyond the Grave #3]

October, 1975

Jonathan Drew, who possesses telepathy, telekinesis, and self-healing powers, becomes known as the Assassin, an action hero who targets organized crime. In his only known case, he battles super-powered villains the Snake and Powerhouse, who are hired by a mobster named Grummun. [1st Issue Special #11]

November, 1975

A coven of 300-year-old immortal witches at a Victorian mansion at Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, led by Helena Crayle and including Sarah and Nicholas, attempts to make a sacrifice. Instead, the coven is killed when they try to sacrifice a being named Conrad Huber, who is actually a divine being. [“A Special Victim,” Beyond the Grave #4]

December, 1975

A blue-skinned, super-powered extraterrestrial named Mikaal Tomas becomes known as Starman and has a single adventure. [1st Issue Special #12]

In E-Man and Nova's last case in the 1970s, with the assistance of Michael Mauser and Gen. Dove, they stop a group of extraterrestrial pirates who plan to loot the Earth. [Charlton Bullseye #4]

1976

January, 1976

February, 1976

Prof. Cyrus Coffin and Arachne's last adventure. [Midnight Tales #18]

Steve Austin discovers a colony of extraterrestrial scientists that have been living in the San Andreas mountains since the year 1726 and who built Bigfoot, an android whose mission is to protect the alien base. [“The Secret of Bigfoot,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

March, 1976

In Michael Mauser's last known case in the 1970s, he hires Nova Kane's friend and fellow part-time exotic dancer, Rosie Redd (who hopes one day to be a policewoman), as his secretary. [Vengeance Squad #6]

An English sorcerer named Eldritch Claetos uses the stones of the priests of ancient Brytagalon to resurrect the ancient hero Hercules. Unfortunately, Hercules is resurrected as he was at the moment of his death, poisoned and burned by a cloak soaked in the blood of a centaur, and he takes his revenge on Claetos by killing him before dying a second time. [“The Stones of Brytagalon,” Beyond the Grave #6]

A drunken former reporter from Chicago named Bennie Franklin learns that the Earth has been invaded by the lizard people, who can change their shape and have replaced key figures. He then remembers that he, too, is a lizard person and resolves to stop drinking. [“Creature,” Beyond the Grave #6]

Mortimer Tishin's last appearance. [Beyond the Grave #6]

Mr. Dee Mun's last appearance. [Creepy Things #6]

July, 1976

The Phantom XXII's last known case in the 1970s. [The Phantom #73]

August, 1976

John and Kim Butler, and Katie and Greg Butler, with their dog Digger, have their last adventure in the Valley of the Dinosaurs. [Valley of the Dinosaurs (Charlton) #11]

1977

Nanako Kuri, a young woman who is the last student of martial arts master Tetsuro Tanaka (Tiger/Judomaster II), debuts in Japan as the action-heroine Tyger. Note: Although the date of Tyger's debut has not yet been confirmed, we believe it coincides with the 1977 Modern Comics reprint of the Judomaster series. Tanaka is 46 years old and retired from crimefighting at this time, only acting as Tyger's sensei and giving her advice during her cases. Tyger's action-heroine name is likely inspired by William Blake's poem, “The Tyger.” Kuri is the granddaughter of Gen. Shimachi Kuri, known during World War II as the Tiger of Tokyo, and who was captured by U.S. Marines during the war (see “The Tiger of Tokyo,” Marine War Heroes #14). Kuri herself is a woman of two worlds, since she grew up in both Japan and the United States, where she received much of her education. In 1980, Tyger becomes a founding member of Femme Force One. [“Justice Society of America: Times Past, 1982: Crisis on Earth-Four”]

Captain Atom battles his old foe Iron Arms in an untold tale, putting him in prison for the next six years. Note: This story might take place somewhat earlier, in 1976 or even 1975, depending on how long Iron Arms was out of prison by 1983. [“Sentinels of Justice,” Americomics Special #1 (August, 1983)]

January, 1976

Jaime Sommers saves the world from a doomsday device created by Dr. Elijah Cooper, a scientist who wants world peace at any cost. [“Doomsday Is Tomorrow,” The Bionic Woman (1976 ABC television series)]

1978

February, 1978

March, 1978

Steve Austin's last known case as a member of OSI. Note: After this episode, Steve Austin remains as an OSI agent. Thanks to his clout as a famous astronaut, Austin is able to exact a legal agreement that he will only work with OSI for as long as Oscar Goldman is with the agency. [“The Moving Mountain,” The Six Million Dollar Man (1974 ABC television series)]

May, 1978

Jaime Sommers resigns from OSI, forcing her to flee or be detained as property of the federal government. Note: Sometime after this episode, OSI's acronym changes to the Office of Special Investigations, and it employs more special agents such as Nightshade and the android Syntac. [“On the Run,” The Bionic Woman (1976 ABC television series)]

July, 1978

August, 1978

A mysterious occult menace threatens the world and keeps several mystical figures busy for the next few years and divides the mystical community. On the side of humanity are the Mysterious Traveler, Doctor Haunt, the Unknown Soldier, Dr. M.T. Graves, Baron Weirwulf, Col. Whiteshroud, Prof. Cyrus Coffin, Arachne, and the Old Gypsy. On the opposing side are Doctor Death, Mr. Dee Mun, Impy, the Old Witch, Countess Von Bludd, Mr. Bones, Mortimer Tishin, Winnie the Witch, and Mr. L. Dedd. Note: This is speculation based on the fact that Charlton stopped printing new stories in its horror anthologies by mid-1978, leaving so many tellers of weird tales unemployed.

September, 1978

September 5: Roger Knight resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, appointing James Callaghan in his place. Note: In actual history, Labour Party leader Harold Wilson was the UK Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970, and then 1974 to 1976, when he resigned and appointed James Callaghan, who lost to Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party in early 1979. In Earth-4's history, however, Roger Knight succeeded Wilson as Labour Party leader in the early 1970s and became Prime Minister from 1974 to 1978. Knight's resignation may be somewhat connected to the mysterious occult menace that began a month before. [“Camelot: In Search of the Truth”]

1979

Capt. Mike Typhon, undersea adventurer and scientist, has adventures under the sea traveling in a series of super-advanced submarines, assisted by Lt. Hank Noor and a loyal crew, including Kelland, Mark, Brady, and Bailey. Typhon possesses a charm-dispelling ring handed down his family from ancient times, which comes in handy against mystical threats. In his first adventure, he defeats an evil wizard who controls the undersea world, freeing a woman named Cecilia, who becomes a temporary companion. He later helps protect the kingdom of Mermea, populated by blonde, humanoid, water-breathing Sea Amazons ruled by Queen Mea. Note: Since Typhon uses a futuristic submarine and ray-guns in his adventures, yet also uses a contemporary-looking submarine and handguns in other adventures, there is an Inter-Ocean Congress, villains wear futuristic-looking costumes, and there are no references to current events, this series likely takes place in the near-future some decades after the end of World War II. We place it in the late 1970s merely to fill a gap. [Weird Comics #1-7]

June, 1979

Kit Walker (the future Phantom XXIII) and Heloise Walker, twins, are born to Kit Walker (the Phantom XXII) and Diana Walker (nee Palmer). [speculation based on the Phantom comic strip]

July, 1979

John Gage and Roy DeSoto's last case. [Emergency! (1972 NBC television series)]

September, 1979

Mike Mist, private investigator, has first public case. Note: Mike Mist exists on Earth-4 because he met Michael Mauser and Ms. Michael Tree, and he once worked for Johnny Dynamite, even taking over his detective agency when Dynamite retired. [The Comics Page]